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MarsTheRedPlanet Wiki
Mars: The Red Planet Mars has been known since prehistoric times from being able observe it at night from Earth. Mars is referred to as the Red Planet due to its vivid red colour. This is caused because iron minerals in the soil on the planet oxidize, making it rust and appear red in colour. It is still a favorite of science-fiction writers as the most favorable place in the Solar System for human habitation. Mars is a planet of extreme geography and climate. It has the tallest mountain in the Solar System: Olympus Mons. It also has several deep valleys. Mars has a very thin atmosphere. It is not big enough to protect it from asteriods, meteors and comets which leave massive craters on the planets surface. Earth on the other hand has a big enough atmosphere that once an meteor or asteroid enters our atmosphere the object will start to burn up and shirnk dramatiically so it would leave severe damage to our landscape the Planet Mars, similar to Earth is also on a rotational tilt. This causes Mars to experience different seasons like Earth. In respect to the climate in Mars it differs dramatically. Mars has an orbit 1.5 times further away from the Sun than Earth, resulting in a much colder climate. It is a cold planet with an average surface temperature of -47 C during the day. In the summer time near the equator it can get as warm at 20 C a day. However, when the sun sets there it gets dramatically colder as it drops to nearly -90 C at night! The dramatic change in temperature can cause winds to reach the speed of tornadoes, which pick up iron oxide that covers the planet, creating dust storms. Mars' orbit is significantly elliptical causing Mars not to receive much direct sunlight creating quite large differences in temperatures on the planet. Mars takes about the same amount of time as Earth to complete a rotation, just over twenty four hours, however, it takes much longer for mars to revolve around the Sun. It takes mars 687 Earth days to completely revolve around the sun (or a year in Martian time). Mars also has two moons the orbit around it: Phobos and Deimos. Its atmosphere consists mainly or Carbon Dioxide, Nitrogen and Argon. While there are no signs o life currently on Mars, scientists continue to research the potential of life to have existed on the planet in the past or the potential for life to exist on this planet in the future. Some Spacecrafts that have visited Mars:- Mariner 4 visited in 1965 - Two Viking Landers landed on Mars in 1976 - There was a twenty year gap between spacecrafts. - Mars Pathfinder landed on July 4 1997 - In 2004 two Mars Expedition Rovers; Spirit and Opportunity landed on mars. They were sent to Mars to gather geological data and images and still continue to operate on the planet. - Phoenix landed in mars in 2009 in search for water - Mars currently has three spacecrafts orbiting the planet: Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Mars Odyssey and Mars Express The rovers Opportunity and Spirit both found evidence of water being on Mars billions of years ago. This means that it is posisble that life COULD have been possible on Mars at some point. Scientists still do not know where exactly the water came from. Mars Earth Comparison.png 3IKjWpO.jpg Arima_twins.jpg NASA_Mars_Rover.jpg mars.jpg mars 2.jpg demois.jpg|phobos deimos.jpg|deimos